Teignbridge '10'

The Great West Teignbridge Ten is a 10-mile race that starts and finishes at Teign School, Kingsteignton. The route starts with approximately 1½ miles around the upper end of the village, followed by two slightly undulating rural laps through Sandygate and Fosterville, then via Preston Manor and back to Kingsteignton.

The race was won by Alan Ryder of Erme Valley Harriers in 57:00 and there were 262 finishers, including five Harriers.

Andy Kennedy ran well to lead the Harriers home in 65th place in 1:10:31, followed by John Perratt, 2nd V60 and 96th overall in 1:15:03. Stan Mason came 182nd in 1:28:01 with Joan Mason 198th in 1:29:55. Denise Kennedy was 225th in 1:35:24.

(LT)

All sorts of SUCCESS (!)

[Hugh in the Falklands Marathon]

On Sunday, 15th March, Harrier Hugh Marsden ran an excellent Falkland Islands Marathon and came second, just as he did last year, but in a PB of 2:57:08. The conditions were reasonably warm, but not as balmy as last year, and the race was won by Lee Pattison in 2:55:51. The Argentinian Marcelo E DE Bernardis came 3rd in 2:57:22, several minutes faster than last year and only 14 seconds behind Hugh.

The fifth and final round of the Ironbridge Runner Winter 3K Series at Exeter Arena on Wednesday, 18th March, was won by Tom Merson of South West Road Runners in 8:56. Congratulations to Tom, who also won the overall series (4 out of 5 races to count) with 3 wins and a second place.

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Harriers athletes were very successful with 3 overall series winners and a second place, out of the 7 male categories. Roger Rowe was 1st V60 in 12:13, and also 1st for the overall series, having won all 5 rounds. Well done, Roger!

Congratulations, also, to Ray Elston, who was 1st V65 in 12:37 and 1st V65 overall, having won all the 4 events he contested. And to Jim Wyatt, 3rd V65 on the night in 13:42 and 2nd over the whole series.

Finally, John Perratt was 1st V70 in 12:25 (and he’s only 72!) and, like Roger, 1st overall in his category with 5 straight wins out of five. Well done, John!

Last Sunday also saw the final event of another winter series, the 6th round at Redruth of the Brooks Westward Cross Country League. Only 56 runners, around half the usual number, completed the senior men’s event that was won by Jim Cole of Tavistock AC in 26:12. Although there were no senior Harriers at Redruth, congratulations go to Ray Elston who was 3rd V60 over the whole series (5 out of 6 races to count).

Exmouth did, however, have rapidly improving Jamie Pearson in the Men U17 event. And, after coming 2nd in both of the last 2 rounds at Bideford and Bovey Tracey, Jamie finally beat both the overall series winner, Tom Gill of Tavistock AC, and the series runner-up, J Waldie of Cornwall AC, to win his category, together with his trophy for a thoroughly well-deserved 3rd place over the series, just 1 point behind J Waldie. Well done, Jamie! (Definitely one to watch in the future)

Finally, last Sunday, Harrier Mark Thompson took part in the Hogweed Hilly Half Marathon, a great race for those wishing to get away from it all across prime South Gloucestershire countryside, with hills that require runners to put their legs in gear and forget all about PB’s. 270 runners completed the race that was won by Tom Fisher in 1:19:00. Mark was 31st in 1:36:47 after an excellent race, following a recent viral infection.

(LT)

Ironbridge Runner Winter 3k Series - Final results

Tom Merson (Senior Man) 1st in three races, 2nd once - 1st overall

Roger Rowe (V60) 1st in all 5 races - 1st overall

Ray Elston (V65) 1st in the 4 races competed - 1st overall

Jim Wyatt (V65) 3 seconds and a third - 2nd overall

John Perratt (V70) 1st in all 5 races - 1st overall

(4 out of 5 races to count)

I hear from Peter Ferlie that there are still a few places left for the Great West Run (9:30am - Sunday, 3rd May). They will of course disappear very quickly, so if you would like to run enter now!

(RR)

Tom at Bath - Sunday 15th

Tom Merson marked his debut for Bristol & West AC with a personal best in the Bath Half Marathon. Merson shrugged off a 30 minutes delay at the start due to traffic congestion and unseasonably warm conditions to clock a time of 69mins 29secs for 18th place in a field of almost 11,000 starters, eight seconds quicker than he ran in Nottingham last September though clearly Merson has a lot more to offer.

Merson should also get a nice cash bonus in the team contest. While official results had still to be confirmed the initial feeling was the Bristol & West AC squad finished runners-up to Cardiff so will get a cheque for £50 each. Top Devon runner was new county champion Kairn Stone, who pulled clear of Merson in the second half of the race to finish 11th (68:29).

(Kevin's Column - Ironbridge Runner)

The Grizzly, and other races...

Wednesday, 4th March saw Round 4 of the Ironbridge Runner Winter 3K Series of five events at Exeter Arena on a cold evening with temperatures only just above freezing. The winner was David Wilkinson in 9:43, over ¾ minute slower than the winning time of 8:55 at Round 3 in December.

The first Harrier to finish was Andy Johnson in 11:35, followed by Roger Rowe in 12:10, John Perratt in 12:27, Ray Elston in 12:44, Jim Wyatt in 13:46 and Les Turner in 15:00. The fifth and final round, postponed from 4th February, will be held on Wednesday, 18th March.

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Last Sunday, the Grizzly 2009 duly took place and, fortunately for the participants, the weather was much less hostile than forecast. So although the strong, cold wind caused some discomfort at the more exposed locations, the rain / hail was limited to a few very short-lived showers. 1446 runners completed the full 20-mile event, including 15 Exmouth Harriers, who produced some excellent performances.

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The race was won by John Macfarlane of Thames Hare & Hounds in 2:19:21. Dave Stone had a superb run to lead the Harriers home in 40th place in 2:49:01. Well done, Dave!

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Adam Miller, 53rd in 2:52:21, Jon Croome, 63rd in 2:55:21 and Paul Champion, 214th in 3:16:01 all ran excellent races. Joe Pascoe was 144th in 3:08:59, Ben White 295th in 3:23:27 and Hannah Dupain 296th in 3:23:34. Lorraine Croome came 452nd in 3:35:56, Terry Oldham 521st in 3:41:47 and Emma Dupain 531st in 3:42:15. Dawn Teed was 542nd in 3:42:52, Lorraine Slight 718th in 3:55:20 and Matt Mason 765th in 3:58:04.

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Sue Wilkin was 1139th in 4:32:25 with Les Turner 1140th in 4:32:58. However, on an age-graded basis, Sue was in the top 750. And this was despite waiting several minutes while Les, who managed to get well and truly stuck in the deepest bog and was “claimed” by the Lean, Mean BogStalker, had to be pulled out and rescued by several stout-hearted helpers.

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The 9-mile Grizzly Cub run was won by Martin Owen in 1:04:34. Congratulations to Harrier Jim Wyatt who had a great race for 1st V65 and 55th overall in 1:33:31, out of the 277 finishers.

(LT)

Recent races...

On Sunday, 22nd February, John Perratt took part in the Dalwood Three Hills Challenge. The race, which starts at the village hall in Dalwood, near Honiton, is 10 miles and largely off-road with only three hills – but each one is 500’ high! 158 runners completed the race that was won by James Denne of Honiton Running Club in 1:12:40. John was 1st V70 and 81st overall in 1:40:43.

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Our man in the Falklands, Hugh Marsden, has just won the Island’s Half Marathon for a very impressive fifth consecutive year!! The Falklands’ weather was quite nice for a change and Hugh took full advantage to run 2 minutes faster than last year and win the race in 1:19:31, beating the runner-up by nearly 7 minutes. Congratulations to Hugh, who will be taking part in the full Falklands Marathon on 15th March.

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Eight Harriers were among the field of 1000 runners who completed the Bideford Half Marathon last Sunday. The race was won by Kairn Stone of Newham & Essex Beagles in 1:10:48. Adam Miller was the first Harrier to finish, 61st in 1:26:38, just 8 seconds ahead of Adrian Kearns, 64th in 1:26:46. Andy Johnson came 147th in 1:33:15, Terry Oldham 291st in 1:42:33 and Dawn Teed 359th in 1:45:33. Lorraine Slight ran superbly for 2nd FV50 and 376th overall in 1:46:21, Lissie Lingard was 636th in 1:58:28 and Corinna Stephens 981st in 2:32:41.

(LT)